Asthma
by Dr.HelenL
Summary: Based off of a Tumblr head cannon. Regina has asthma and Cora cures her, but makes Regina have some nasty sicknesses every winter.


~ based off of rebelbyrdie's first cannon here

Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT, or it's characters. Enjoy.

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It was horrible, the asthma. Regina could not do her lessons like normal, and horse riding was definitely something she could not do (which made Regina cranky). Cora had just about enough of her wheezing - she needed to get caught up on her lessons or she would never learn them. She knew that there was no "cure" for this, or at least, that lousy doctor had told her there was none. And no matter how much herbal teas and soothing creams Cora made Regina use, the asthma would come right back.

It wasn't just that either. Cora couldn't take the pathetic sounds of her daughter's coughs in the middle of the night. She sounded so weak, and Cora itched to make it stop. At first she gave Regina some herbal tea and tried to urge Regina into hiding it. She seemed to be fine for a few days, but she could tell Regina was losing hold on the control over her coughing fits.

At first, she thought she wasn't trying enough, but it became evident that Regina could not hold back on them when she finally broke down at the dinner table. They had been eating some of the wild pig known for their tender meat, and yet she still choked on her dinner. When Henry had finally gotten out the food wedged in her tiny throat, Regina continued to struggle in her breathing and Cora realized it was not from the food, but an asthma attack. It made her so weak.

And Cora wasn't one for weakness.

So she turned to her magic, and eventually found a spell that might help. It was supposed to aid in breathing and coughing, and it called for only a small amount of energy from Cora to place the spell on her. Regina was clear for days before she had another attack. Deep down, Cora knew it wouldn't work for long - all magic comes with a price, and the price was too low for anything significant to happen.

So she looked deeper into her spellbook. And even deeper into others. With Regina's wheezing lungs and her loud, laborious breathing ringing in Cora's ears she decided to cast another healing spell over Regina. This one, however, gave the inflicted person quite a large amount of pain. But Cora was determined Regina could handle it.

Cora commanded that Regina lay down on the cushioned recliner in the library of their home after dinner for her to cast the spell. Henry had pleaded with her not to cause Regina much pain, but Cora told him it was the only way to get the horrid disease out of her lungs. And since she was a stubborn woman, Henry did not waste his time trying to dissuade her from it. Instead he sat down next to Regina on the seat.

"Mommy will this hurt?" Regina asked in a quiet voice, and Cora responded in kind: "Yes sweetheart, it will, but," Cora said, kneeling down in front of her child, "this pain will get you over future pain."

Regina nodded her head softly. It was apparent the child was scared, however, she knew that when her Mother wanted something to happen, it would. Regina was brought up to obey that wish, and so the little girl kept quiet as Cora laid Regina down on the red seat, and made Regina chew on a leaf.

"This will help the spell Regina, eat." she explained, placing the leaf on Regina tongue. She wrinkled her nose in disgust at the taste of the leaf, but swallowed it like a good girl and didn't complain. Cora glared at her husband and he moved away, sitting on a different chair. Cora hated that he coddled her so much - Regina didn't need her Father around, she would be fine. A little pain never hurt anyone.

She sighed and went back to her spell, closing her eyes and concentrating on Regina. She placed a hand on her daughter's chest, focusing on her lungs and throat. As an expected response, Regina began to experience heavier breathing. Cora continued on, her brow wrinkling in concentration.

Regina was nervous, and it was getting harder and harder to breath. It began to feel like her throat was burning. Cora's hand began to move from Regina's chest to her throat. Regina could feel her Mother's fingers curl around her neck. She could hear some soft words being whispered under her Mother's breath, but Regina did not move - Cora's punishment was far worse than her burning throat.

The pain increased, however, and Regina began to feel like she would suffocate. She whimpered softly and twisted under her Mother's grip. She felt hot and sweaty, and her breathing was so loud, Henry began to stand up slowly.

But Cora did not stop. Regina began to cry silently, and Henry stood, lingering there with a frightened face. Cora brown hair stuck to her skin with the sweat of concentration. She mumbled the spell over and over under her breath, and in her mind she pictured the disease. It was an inflamed, red color. It made Reginas lungs swell, and in it Cora pictured calming the swelling mass with ice. It made a sizzling sound in her mind as she destroyed the thing with her magic.

Cora did not notice that Regina was beginning to turn red too from the lack of oxygen. Her soft brown eyes were wide, and her chubby hands grasped at her Mother's which was still around her neck. Henry stood there, frozen. He wanted to run up and stop the procedure, but Cora threatened him earlier about the consequences.

Regina could feel her eyes well with tears, but fought the burning - that's what Mother had told her. And if there was one thing Regina did, was try to impress her Mother. She stopped struggling, and gave in a bit, her tiny hands clutching the fabric in the chair. Through her tears she focused on her Mother, jaw clenched and face hard.

Cora smiled as she felt the asthma finally give into her magic, sizzling as she burned it from Regina's lungs. Regina would have no such weakness of the lung anymore. Her daughter was good, she had payed the price of pain for her. Finally she pulled back her arm, and opened her eyes at her child.

Regina was still, her small hands gipping the chair. Her face was a bright shade of red, and sweat covered the child's face. Cora smiled at her daughter when Regina took a deep, clear breath. The natural color began to color her face. Cora wiped away Regina's tears with her handkerchief, and sat Regina up before giving her some water.

Henry was relieved to see that Regina was fine and well. He came up to Regina and hugged her tightly. Regina looked over his shoulder at her Mother, and pulled away from her Father. "It didn't hurt that bad."

Cora beamed, "That's it Regina, you were strong."

Regina nodded and thanked Cora, to which Cora responded "Anything for you sweetheart." Cora of course, was only relieved that she had been able to cure Regina from her asthma, and pride in herself for doing it. Regina's voice hadn't sounded so clear in days and now that she was cured from it, she could return to her lessons with one-hundred percent health.

She would make sure Regina would have no weakness.

* * *

Winter flakes had fallen softly down from the sky, and stuck to the windows of the Mill's family home. Cora heart leapt into her throat when the maid so rudely interrupted her magic practice - only to tell her that Regina had fallen ill during her handwriting lesson.

Cora dislike when her daughter got sick. It reminded her that Regina was human, and although she appreciated that in some ways, weak immune systems was something she did not favor. Ever since Cora had taken her heart out, she had only gotten minor colds, but Regina had always been a sick girl.

She shoved open the door to Regina's room quickly and pushed past that annoying doctor. Anger rose when she saw Regina's frail body laying in bed, her face pale and tiny body. She turned to the doctor, "What does she have!?" she yelled, angry that her daughter fell prey to such natural diseases again.

"Pneumonia, my lady," the short man answered, clearly terrified of Cora's blind wrath.

"Pneumonia." Cora said, suddenly calm. She turned slowly to Regina, who was coughing into a handkerchief. Mucus and spittle was collecting at the corners of her mouth, and Cora - in the most tender way possible - wiped it away with her own handkerchief, giving it to Regina for use.

"Gentlemen," Cora said to her husband and the doctor, "you are dismissed."

The two looked at each other, and not wanting to anger Cora any more left without a word. Cora would have smirked at their obedience, but she had more important things to do. She conjured the spell book she had used to cure Regina of her asthma not a few months ago, and flipped through the pages until she found it.

Cora groaned softly, massaging her temple in frustration. Why had she not noticed this before? She hadn't cared enough to read the entire spell when she cured Regina of her asthma. All she could think of was Regina's grainy voice, and how it would affect her in becoming Queen. She didn't realize how it would scar the tissue in her daughter's lungs.

Turning to Regina softly, she helped her daughter sit up slowly, holding the handkerchief to her mouth as she coughed out green tinged mucus. Regina was going to have to deal with this one without her Mother's magic. She didn't feel like tending to her daughters needs, but she could not abandon Regina to those fools.

"Mommy?" Regina asked softly, and Cora smiled reassuringly to her words. "It's alright sweetheart, Mommy knows you will fight out the pain." Regina nodded. She was used to it, and she would do anything to make her Mother happy - even if it was hard not to complain about the pain in her chest.

At least she didn't have asthma.

* * *

"Whoa, Regina, where are you going?" Graham asked, quite annoyed. Despite the fact Regina basically controlled everyone in the curse, and despite the fact she had Graham's heart in a box, she still could not stop his true colors from showing. It was true, Regina never seemed to make Graham fully hers.

"I'm going to work," Regina stated, throat swollen, sinuses burning and breathing loud. Graham nearly laughed at her, but something always told him that laughing at Regina was a bad idea. It was hard though - she looked like shit.

Regina turned to walk out the front door, the coldness common in December blowing at her, making her wheeze again. Graham took the time she was taking to cover her mouth to close the door, locking it.

"You should stay home and take a day, Regina." She glared at him, about to yell when Henry's tiny voice came from behind her.

"You should Mommy," he said, "you look really sick."

Regina paused, face flushed. She was annoyed and angry at Graham for stopping her, and mildly upset that Henry agreed, but she knew that they were right - not that she'd admit it, but she was also grateful for their persistence too. Snow and Leopold never seemed to notice that she was sick in the Enchanted Forest, and it was refreshing to know someone did.

"Alright," she said to Henry softly, "but only because I can stay and watch movies with my boy for a day," she said firmly, glancing at Graham. He rolled his eyes defiantly and watched Regina leave to the living room with Henry in her arms. There was something inherently stubborn about that woman, and Graham didn't understand why he put up with her.

Then, the curse kicked in, and Graham was back into his everyday routine - being Sheriff. The Curse would not allow him to contemplate Regina's annual sickness, it would remind him too much of the Enchanted Forest and his other self.

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So how did you guys like it? Let me know and comment!

**- Helen**


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